Naala looked at herself in the mirror at her matted hair. The sound of Sinai's loud cries filled the entire apartment. A disgruntled Naala reached into the cabinet that was hidden behind a mirror and reached for her pills. Opening the pills, she poured 2 into her hand and threw them down her throat, she didn't even bother taking them with water. Naala looked back at her baby, tears filling her eyes. She didn't know how to be a mother, it didn't come naturally to her. She thought of every way to look after her but she didn't know where to start.

"Nai, can you just STOP!" Naala screamed, tugging at her hair. Sinai's cries grew louder at the sudden noise. Naala looked over and continued to cry with her, their sobs fighting with each other.

"I-I can't do this," Naala cried, reaching for the sharpest object she could get her hands on. Unfortunately the only tool she had was a pair of nail scissors. A mixture of the high from the pills and the anxiety she was experiencing at the moment, compelled her to use the scissors on her wrist. The sharp scissors, created small incisions on her small wrist, crimson blood seeped through the cuts creating small droplets on the bathroom floor. The pain whipped through her entire body, but the drugs paralysed her. Suddenly, Sinai's cries ceased and everything was silent. That's what she loved, those 3 seconds where everything was quiet, her thoughts, the world. Then everything comes back, like a brick knocking the breathe out of her lungs, the pain, the loneliness - everything.

Naala was jolted out of her sleep by her alarm that continuously beeped on the nightstand. Opening her eyes, she adjusted to the flurry of light that attacked her eyes. She turned over and expected to be met by Dave's broad back but was instead met by the extra pillows that normally lay on the bed, his side of the bed untouched.

Naala huffed and got up, her head spinning due to crying herself to sleep the night prior. She walked carefully to the bathroom, her inner thighs still sore from her and Dave's activities. As she brushed her teeth, she wondered where Dave had slept last night, it was unlike him to sleep elsewhere. Her mind went to the event of the night before, she knew she owed Dave a big apology.

Turning the shower on to the highest, Naala jumped in and let the scorching water beat down on her chocolate skin, the steam clouding up the mirrors almost immediately. She didn't feel like going into work, but she had missed so much after her injury and was in dire need of normality. Naala let her mind wander as she she showered, her mind constantly going to Sinai, she made a mental note to pick her up immediately after work.

Getting out of the shower, Naala walked into her closet and sat at her vanity and began to rub lotion over every part of her body. She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. Her big chocolate brown eyes were filled with sadness, and equally as puffy. She didn't bother with any makeup all she did was brush in her eyebrows and apply lipgloss. Naala got up and looked at her clothes, she needed something that matched her mood this morning. She settled on a a black knitted jumper and a pair of black trousers, she paired these with her Prada boots and grabbed her matching Prada bag. Her hair was still neat from the day before so she brushed it and then was done. Sunglasses, she thought, her eyes were way too puffy not to. Grabbing a pair of Chanel shades, Naala made her way out of the room.

Naala walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, she texted Bully to let him know that she will be another 20 minutes as she wanted to eat breakfast. The whole house was silent, not even the sound of a television was heard. Naala walked towards the second guest room, knowing that Chanel occupied the first one. Knocking lightly, she walked in, as she assumed Dave lay in the bed, a bottle of Hennessy on the table beside him. Naala walked in further until she was standing over him. She leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips, "I'm sorry," She muttered, stroking his face. Clearing her throat, she stood up straight and made her way out of the room.

Going back to the kitchen, she grabbed a bottle of water and an apple, deciding to skip breakfast. She walked out towards the garage and saw Bully leaning on the car waiting for her. "Morning," He said with a head nod, Bully was a man of very little words, he only spoke if spoken to.

"Good morning Bully, we can take whatever you feel like driving today," Naala said softly. Bully simply nodded his head and grabbed the keys for the escalade. He unlocked it and held the door open for Naala to get in. "Can we make a quick stop before my office?" Naala questioned looking at Bully. He nodded and proceeded to pull off.

Pulling up at CVS, Naala grabbed her purse and slide out of the car. She pushed her sunglasses further up her face as she walked into the store. She went straight to the contraceptive section, looking for a Plan B. Her and Dave were not in a position to welcome another baby, the truth was Naala didn't want another baby. When she spotted the Plan B, she grabbed 3 boxes, she didn't want to make this trip again.

At the register, the old white woman scanned the boxes, looking at Naala who stared back at her behind her glasses. The woman read the total and Naala gave her a $50 bill and picked the bag up, making her way back to the car. She slide in and gave Bully a soft smile, Bully put the car in drive and carried on their journey.

Naala didn't waste any time, she popped open the Plan B and washed it down with her bottle of water. Bully saw her actions in the rearview mirror but decided to mind his business. After she took it, a wave of relief washed over her, she did not want a baby at all.

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Mia pulled up at Ace's apartment. Her nerves were at an all time high, she was finally ready to tell Ace about her pregnancy. Mia spotted another car in his driveway and immediately wanted to turn back but she knew if she did she would never tell him. She clutched her purse in nervousness as she knocked on the door. The door swung open and a small brown skin woman was looking back at her. She was beautiful. Both girls stared at each for a second before Ace appeared behind the woman.

"Damn, Mia I didn't know you were coming by today," Ace said as he moved in front of the woman and leaned in to peck Mia on the lips. This action shocked both women, Desiree who was Ace's baby mother, scrunched up her face at the gorgeous girl on her baby daddy's doorstep.

"I-um- I needed to speak to you," Mia said softly, looking at Desiree. "Hasaan, you not gon' tell me who this is?" Desiree said, calling him his government name. Sucking his teeth, Ace grabbed Mia's hand and led her into the house almost knocking Desiree down.

Desiree was a young beautiful woman. She had a brown cartoon like eyes, a cute button nose and full luscious lips. Her hair was a jet black frontal with a middle part. She was a very beautiful woman however her attitude made her butt-ugly. Ace was just a lick to her however she wound up pregnant. Their daughter, Mocha, was a spitting image of her mother - you wouldn't think Ace was her father.

Mia stood awkwardly in the living area, while Ace and Desiree argued in the kitchen. Mocha sat in her play pen staring at Mia with her big eyes. Mia sighed and looked away from the baby, she didn't know how she was going to tell Ace that he was going to be a father again. Meanwhile, Ace and Desiree were getting loud and Mia couldn't help but to over hear,

"I don't give a fuck who she is Ace, I don't want her around my baby." Desiree fussed. This was the first woman that Desiree had seen at Ace's house and she did not like it. Especially the way he kissed her and lead her into the house, he had never done that for her.

"Well tough, it's my weekend with Mo' and she not going nowhere," He pointed towards the living area. Ace was serious about Mia, he wanted something that would last and she ticked all the boxes.

Desiree sucked her teeth and turned on her heels, she walked straight past Mia, gave her baby a kiss and walked right out the front door, slamming it in the process. Ace was right behind her, shaking his head. "I'm sorry about that baby, you straight?" He asked Mia, she was very quiet which was unlike her.

Mia shook her head, "No Ace, we need to talk," She whispered, scared about his reaction. "What's up mama?" Ace questioned walking over to her.

Here goes nothing, Mia thought. "I'm pregnant," She stuttered looking up at him. She couldn't read his expression, his face was blank. "Wait, run that back," He said, licking his lips.

Before she could repeat herself, she felt her feet leaving the floor. "I'm gon' be a daddy again!" Ace cheered, swinging Mia around. He put her down abruptly before she could even react and dropped to the floor, putting his ear at her stomach. "Hey my baby, it's your papa," Ace whispered before placing almost 100 kisses on her stomach.

Mia was genuinely shocked, she was looking down at Ace with pure surprise. Ace wasn't even concentrating on her, he was busy talking to his baby. Mia's heart gushed as she watched them both, what snapped her out of her thoughts was Mocha squealing in her playpen. That also caught Ace's attention because he jumped up and pulled Mia into a long kiss. "You don't know how happy I am Mia," Ace said as he pulled away, he analysed Mia's face, her nervousness still present.

"Baby, what's going on, you don't want this baby?" Ace asked, truly concerned. One thing that he wasn't going to do was force Mia to do something she didn't want. He wanted their baby to be born into a loving family, not into a family where their parents couldn't even be in the same room.

"No, I do, it's just -- my family, my parents mostly," Mia would happily have this baby but her parents were very traditional people, they would never accept this.

"Then I will marry you right here," Ace said without even thinking. "Yeah, marry me," Ace said, now certain in his decision. Straight after that statement, Ace was on one knee looking at Mia with pleading eyes.

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Naala sat at her desk, answering an email from a client. Her mind kept going back to Dave, she was yet to hear from him and it was almost the end of the working day. Naala was quite upset, she knew they had argued last night but this was the longest she had gone without speaking to Dave. Her phone vibrated lightly on her desk, causing her to stop typing and answer the phone call - it was her sister.

"Naala," Azure called out, hoping that this call wouldn't be too awkward due to the fact that they hadn't spoken properly in a while.

"Hey Zuri," Naala said softly into the phone, it felt good to hear her sister's voice. "You okay Lala, you sound down," Azure knew her sister, and she knew how fragile Naala could be. The last thing they needed was for her to relapse.

"I'm good, I'm at the office, actually have you got time for lunch?" Naala questioned, biting her lip. "Yh of course, do you want me to come there or you want to meet somewhere?" Naala was starving and she knew she didn't have any food at her office.

"We can meet at Changs?" That was both the girls favourite Chinese restaurant and Naala was craving orange chicken.

"Mmm, 3:30 sound okay? Azure asked, packing up her own desk, she was waiting for a reason to escape. Naala agreed and they hung up, she quickly shot Bully a text to inform him that she will be leaving for lunch. He replied almost instantly that he was downstairs ready to go when she was. Naala continued to answer her emails, coming across one from a potential client, it was DaBaby - he had been caught in a fight at a club and was now being sued. His manager had got in contact with Naala for legal advice. Naala answered the email, quoting her price and everything she could do to help.

Taina sat at her desk texting Von, she knew she wasn't meant to be using her phone at work but her and Von had gotten into it last night. She thought about what happened and got angry all over again,

Taina lay in her bed, furiously checking the time. Von had told her he would be home around 8pm so she wanted to do something nice for him. She cooked his favourite meal, chilled a bottle of wine and even ran him a bath. However, Von never turned up. Taina was irritated, all she wanted to do was show him that she appreciated him but clearly he didn't appreciate her.

She checked her phone for the 10th time in 5 minutes, still no word from Von. This was what she hated, her and Von were trying to work on their relationship and he was already making them go backwards. The sound of the front door opening caused Taina to jump up. She knew it was Von as he was the only one that had a key to her apartment.

Taina flew down the stairs and was met with a very guilty Von. He was dressed in a white string vest and grey joggers, his dreads were back out of his face and he had a pair of Jordan slides on his feet. He looked edible but that didn't distract Taina from the fact that he was meant to be there at 8pm and it was now 3am.

"Damn baby, I got caught up at the studio," He said, trying to reach for Taina who stepped back. Von was a upcoming 'rapper', upcoming meaning he had 1k streams on soundcloud.

"It's 3 am Von, and you got hickies all on your neck," Taina shouted as she looked as his neck that was decorated with small red marks. Von reached up and touched his neck, clenching his jaw as he told Chanel not to do that.

"These ain't no hickies ma, chill out," Von huffed, just wanting to go upstairs and crash, Taina was blowing him. Taina shook her head, trying to hold in her tears, she wasn't one to cry but it was clear that Von was cheating on her - again.

"Get out Devonte, I don't wanna get into this tonight," Taina muttered, walking over to the door to open it for him. She was dressed in a white tank top and some nike leggings, she changed out of her lingerie when she realised Von wasn't coming.

"Man it is not that serious, you gonna let me crash or nah, you always want to start something," Von said, staring back at Taina. Taina scoffed and opened the door further, "Leave." She said, standing her ground.

Von sucked his teeth and pulled up his joggers, leaving Taina's house. She slammed the door behind him, double locking it. She really wanted them to work but he was making it so hard.

Taina's fingers flew across her screen, Von claimed she was blowing everything out of proportion and wasn't trying to make their relationship work. This infuriated Taina because she was the only trying, he was still going around fucking random bitches.

As she was typing, she looked up and saw Naala leaving her office and making her way over. Naala's eyes were sunken and you could see she had spent a long time crying the night before. Taina raised her eyebrows at her best friend's appearance, she never dressed down to the firm but today she was dressed as if she couldn't care less.

"Hey pooh, you going to lunch," Taina asked, thinking about her own lunch that was in the fridge. Naala nodded slowly, "Mmm me and Azure are going to Chang's, do you want anything?" Her voice soft and weak. Taina shook her head and continued to analyse her friend, "You good Lala?" She questioned, just yesterday Naala was glowing and now today she looked like she was going through it.

"Yh, I've got a bit of a headache," She said which was not a complete lie, her head was still spinning. Taina just looked at her, not really believing that but she wouldn't force her.

"Okay, I will be here when you get back, oh and Mr Grant asked for an invoice," Taina spoke, looking at the list of things she had to do before the end of the day. "Ok send one through for me, love you," Naala said, hiking her purse up her shoulder and walking towards the exit.

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Dave pulled up at his mother's house, putting his car in park. He pushed his shades further up his face and grabbed his phone, getting out of the car. He was here to pick up Sinai as she didn't go into school again today.

He unlocked the door and walked straight in. He was greeted by his mother and Sinai in the living area watching a movie. Sinai spotted her dad first and jumped up, running towards him.

"Aht Aht, quit all that running 'Nai, you gon' fall and bust your behind," Sonia fussed, pausing the movie and getting up. "Hey baby," She said greeting her son.

Sinai held onto her dad as if he was going to evaporate into the air. Dave carried her with ease, leaning down to kiss his mom on the cheek. "Hey ma," He spoke, his voice low and abrupt. He was still hungover from the night before, he went too far with the alcohol. "Are we going home daddy?" Sinai questioned, playing with his hair and looking at him. "We need to go to the store quickly but then we going home," Dave said kissing her cheek and letting her down.

Sonia had now moved into the kitchen, packing up the cookies she made with Sinai. "Her bag is by the stairs, Amir" She called out towards the living room. When she didn't hear a response, she rounded the corner and saw Dave sitting with his head up to the ceiling and Sinai talking his head off. "'Nai baby, can you go upstairs and check if you packed everything, I just need to talk to your daddy quickly," Sonia said walking towards where Dave was sitting.

Dave brought his head down and looked over at his mom, "What's up mama?" Dave questioned, tugging at his beard. "I should be asking you that, what happened? You coming in here out of the blue looking angry at the world," his mom stated, taking in his appearance. He was dressed comfortably in a sweatsuit and sneakers, he wore minimal jewellery and his signature mug sat on his face.

"I came to pick up Sinai,"

"Boy I gave birth to you, I know when there's something wrong, what is it?" She pressured. Sonia could see that something was bothering her son and she was sure it had something to do with Naala.

"Mmm," His mom hummed, "So it's got nothing to do with Miss Naala?" She quizzed. Earlier on, Sonia received a message from Naala saying she will be collecting Sinai after work, all of a sudden Dave was at her door.

Dave sucked his teeth and got up, "Why's it got to be about Naala ma'?" Dave walked over to the stairs and called out for Sinai, who came skipping down the steps, "Let's go baby," He said to her, cutting his eyes at his mother. Sonia just looked at him, she wasn't going to pressure him into speaking to her, but she would get to the bottom of this.

"Bye Grandma," Sinai sung, holding onto Sonia tightly, then running off to the door - she was excited to get home and play in her toys.

"Bye ma'" Dave said before opening the door and unlocking the car. Sonia stood by the door and waved, her motherly instincts tickling.

a/n short chapter to keep you guys going lmao